Guitar Making and Repair/Repair Broken Headstock

QuestionHave a Washburn WI-64 with broke headstock.. large crack when put together has alot missing still... what type of material would make a good filler to help strengthen it?

AnswerAlthough I've built and repaired instruments in the past, my specialty is inlay work so will refer you to a great source of trustworthy and up-to-date information. Gryphon Stringed Instruments (Palo Alto, CA) has a huge searchable site dealing with every aspect of set-up and repair at http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html. You can also contact them directly at: (650)493-2131. Hope that helps, and best wishes on the project!

Expertise

Anything to do with inlay work, especially in regards to natural marine shell materials (Mother of pearl or MOP and abalone, etc.), but also ivories and tortoiseshell.

Experience

Co-owner of The House of Banjos, Denver, CO (1963-1964); owner of Erika Banjos, Van Nuys, CA. (1965-1989). First began processing shell for inlay in 1968, but from 1981-1985 got out of the industry to become a professional gold miner (suction dredging). In 1989 the Gibson Guitar Co., Montana Division bought the stored shell business, and after I spent a month at their factory setting it up and training workers it operated as their Erika Division until 1991, when they decided to close it. This allowed me to get back into the industry, and from 1992 until the present I have been supplying shell as Duke of Pearl, with 4 shops in Seoul, South Korea and a small factory in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In 1998 the first of 3 U.S. patents were awarded to myself and Larry Sifel (now deceased founder of Pearlworks, in Mechanicsville, MD) as co-patentees of the laminated shell sheet material known as ABALAM® (or ABLAM).
Am also a specialist dealing in mother of pearl antiques and collectibles, with an internet shop, Chainsaw Chuck, on the Ruby Lane website.

OrganizationsAssociation of Stringed Instrument Artisans (ASIA); Guild of American Luthiers (GAL); National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM); Northern California Association of Luthiers (NCAL).